Power door lock

ABSTRACT

A lock particularly adapted for railway cars or the like, is disclosed wherein the actuation is controlled by remote control and unauthorized operation is prevented in a unique manner. The door is mounted for sliding action, and stop means in the form of pins are mounted for projecting movement into the path of travel of the slide means to prevent operation of the door by jamming action. The control means includes a cross bar operated by an air cylinder. Solenoid valve means operates the cylinder and is constructed to maintain the door locked, even in the event of power failure or disconnection. The entire control means is in a sealed or enclosed box to prevent outside tampering.

[ June 28, 1974 POWER DOOR LOCK Inventor: Julius Boughton, 10221 S. Peoria St, Chicago, Ill. 60643 Primary ExaminerKenneth Downey Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Lowe, King and Price [57] ABSTRACT [22] Flled: Sept' 1972 A lock particularly adapted for railway cars or the [21] Appl. No.: 289,785 like, is disclosed wherein the actuation is controlled by remote control and unauthorized operation is pre- [52] us CL I 49/449 292/144 vented in a unique manner. The door is mounted for [51] Int Cl E65! 13/04 sliding action, and stop means in the form of pins are [58] Fieid 426 mounted for projecting movement into the path of 29225 travel of the slide means to prevent operation of the door by jamming action. The control means includes a {56] References Cited cross bar operated by an air cylinder. Solenoid valve means operates the cylinder and is constructed to UNITED STATES PATENTS maintain the door locked, even in the event of power Lehnert X failure or disconnectior T'he entire control means is :F Z SS i in a sealed or enclosed box to prevent outside tamper- 1v r n 3,614,147 10/1971 Spector 292/144 x 10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1' r T \5 1 l3 l3 l 1 '1 1 i '4'- ll l I ll '+-lZ 1 i 1 1 1 I El "b2 6 l \4. l4- 1 L- .W l IHJJT------A\ "11 l 1 .1111 1 1- fi 1 m .F'JUS PATENTEDJUM28 1914 312320.284

SHEET 2 [IF 2 [/63 f i? ii i POWER noon LOCK The present invention relates to door locks, and more particularly, to an improved lock for a sliding door of railway cars or the like that is remotely controlled, and not susceptible to operation by unauthorized persons.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The transportation industry, and more particularly the freight carriers, have always been plagued by goods that are stolen from freight cars, truck trailers, or the like during transit. Unauthorized entry into 'cars most usually occurs when the cars or trailers are left unattended at intermediate transfer points along the route. Stronger and more sophisticated locks for the doors have been proposed and tried, but to seemingly no avail, since stealing, vandalism, and pilferage are increasing daily. Thus, a need for a fool-proof system for sealing and locking doors to transport structures that is protected and rugged and operated by remote control so that breaking and'entering is effectively prevented, is identified.

Furthermore, it is desirable, I believe, to have the improved door locking structure that may be controlled only by the operator of the vehicle, and which door locking system is susceptible to simultaneous and positive operation to seal and lock all of the doors of a train. This system should also assure that all of the doors may be quickly and without difiiculty opened when the destination is reached.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION It is still another object of the present invention to provide a door lock of the type described wherein a plurality of doors may be secured and locked only by the operator or other authorized person.

It is still another object of the present invention to I provide a door lock that is not only operated by remote control, but is inaccessible, and therefore not susceptible, to outside tampering, and a lock that remains securely locked when loss of power occurs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention envisions a lock for a sliding door that is remotely controlled and positive in its operation so as to prevent unauthorized entry into a structure. The apparatus of the invention may be applied to either single or double sliding doors, and is envisioned to find its widest application to mobile storage units, such as railway cars and highway trailers. In this specific field, the lock of the present invention will prevent the high rate of loss now being experienced; however, it will be realized by those skilled in the art that the character of the lock system is such that use in other fields, such as stationary storage units is possible also.

In basic terms, one or more stop pins are positioned for projecting movement into the path of travel of the slide means, such as rollers, that support the door. These pins jam the rollers to prevent opening movement of the doors. The pins are operated by control means that is under the exclusive control of the operator.

The stop pins are mounted for movement on a cross bar that is, in turn, carried by spaced guides. This assembly is of a highly desirable, rugged construction to give years of reliable service. The guide pin and cross bar assembly and control means are sealed and protected from tampering from one that would seek unauthorized entry into the structure. The control means includes a clevis carried by the cross bar and operated by a power cylinder and solenoid valve combination to position the stop pins into and out of the jamming relationship.

The operating piston of the cylinder is preferably operated by air, and the solenoid valve includes an armature having a passage therethrough for connecting a source of pressurized air to said cylinder for moving the pins to the locking position. Operation of the solenoid in the opposite direction opens an exhaust port and allows the stop pins to retract automatically. Direct pressurization of chamber housing the armature of the solenoid valve in combination with check valve means prevents the loss of power from allowing opening of the locks. Thus, the doors can only be opened by the appropriate remote control actuation of the solenoid valve.

Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description, wherein I have shown and described only the preferred embodiment of the invention, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by me of carrying out my invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modification in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of a single door mounted for sliding movement on a structure having a doonvay opening BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a structure such as a railway freight car body 10 is shown having an opening depicted by dashed line outline 11 and which it is desired to have securely closed by a suitable sliding door 12. The particular structure of the door 12 and the structure is, or may be, of any standard design for a sliding door, although as shown in FIG. 1, suitable upper and lower rollers 13, 14 are provided in this instance to allow the door to slide easily on suitable upper and lower tracks l5, 16, respectively. The upper track prevents transverse movement of the door 12 when any outside lifting action is transferred to the door. In other words, the upper rollers 13 prevent the door from being raised sufficiently to allow the lower rollers 14 from being removed from the lower track 16. As will be clear, the door 12 may be opened, when unlocked, by merely moving the same on the rollers 13, 14 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 1, so as to clear the opening 11.

FIG. 2 shows a typical two door arrangement that also may be used in conjunction with the power door lock of the present invention. In this view, side by side doors 20, 21 are provided to close the opening 22. These doors are mounted on suitable pairs of rollers 23-26, as shown in this Figure. As in the embodiment of FIG. 1, suitable tracks 27, 28 are provided along the upper and lower edges of the structure for mating with the rollers.

Suitably positioned below the doors 12 or 20, 21, is shown a power lock system, generally designated by the reference numeral 30, that includes the novel features of the present invention. The lock system 30 includes a pair of lock pins 31, 32 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) which can be identical for use on either the single door 12 or the double door 20, 21 arrangement. These pins are mounted so as to project across and into the path of the adjacent rollers and thus, jam the rollers from further movement along the track 16. The presence of the upper track is of importance since the door 12 or 20, 21 is prevented from moving up and over the pins 31, 32 in this way.

The stop pins 31, 32 and the control linkage and system can best be seen in FIG. 3 of the drawings. The pins 31, 32 are shown in the position projecting across the lower track 28 of the double door embodiment shown in FIG. 2. It will be understood that the arrangement of FIG. I would be the same as that shownin FIG. 2 so that further specific discussion with regard to FIG. 1 is unnecessary. It should be briefly noted that in either the FIG. 1 or the FIG. 2 showing, the stop pins 31, 32 are positioned on opposite sides of the adjacent rollers in the locking position so as to prevent the movement of the door 12 or doors 20, 21 in either direction. Also, it should be noted that in FIG. 3, the view is frombelow, or underneath the structure 10.

As shown in FIG. 4, the pins 31, and likewise the pin 32, is provided with an enlarged body portion 35 that provides the mounting base therefor. The body portion 35 includes a central opening that receives a wear sleeve 36, such sleeve 36 in turn being supported by cross bar 37 (see FIG. 4). The sleeve 36 is mounted at its opposite ends within elongated slide aperatures 38 (FIG. 4) formed in the support ears 39, 40 (FIG. 3). Washers 41 and lock nuts 42, engaging the ends of the shaft 37, complete the support linkage for the lock pins 31, 32.

As can be seen, this guide pin and cross bar assembly is of a very rugged construction and capable of taking substantial abuse without failure. The body portion 35 of the pins 31, 32 is fixedly secured to the sleeve 36, such as by weldments 43, 44, to prevent any possibility of shifting in the longitudinal direction should an attempt be made to try to open the doors 20, 21 without releasing the lock. There is also a component of force acting downwardly on the pins 31, 32 as the rollers 24, 26 attempt to ride up on said pins. Thus, the force is, to a degree, minimized. The ends of the sleeve 36 provide a wear surface in the area of the slide aperatures 38 in order to resist failure in these areas.

At the center of the pin and cross bar assembly is provided an actuating yoke that serves to move said assembly between the full line and dotted line positions of FIG. 3, which are the extended and retracted positions of the stop pins 31, 32, respectively. The yoke 50 is mounted on an actuating rod 51 by a nut 52, the rod 51 being connected to the piston of a power cylinder 54. When the piston is in the extended position, shown in FIG. 3, the stop pins 31, 32 are in the locking position, and thus the lock is on. When the upper part of the cylinder is depressurized, the cross bar assembly and the piston are urged to the retracted position by a suitable compression spring 55, that may be positioned in front of the yoke 50, as shown in FIG. 3. The spring 55 thus continuously urges the cross bar assembly to the open; or unlatched, position, but as will be seen below, the maintenance of the pressure in the upper portion of the cylinder 54 assures that the lock is maintained on at all times until being positively released by the operator.

To provide air to the cylinder 54, a solenoid valve is provided, and which is shown in cross section in FIG. 3a. A coil 61 is operative to move the armature 62 to either the full line position or the retracted, dotted line position, depending on the direction of flow of current in the coil 61. The armature 62 is keyed for nonrotative, linear movement and includes a passageway 63 which connects with a stationary feed line 64 communicating with the cylinder 54. An outlet port or orifice 65 is provided at the elbow of the feed line 64, and is closed by a stopper 66 when the armature 62 is in the forward position.

The opposite end of the passageway 63 opens through a one way check valve 70 to a source of air pressure supply, in the form of an air hose 71. The check valve 70 prevents the flow of air from the passageway 63 back to the air hose 71 for a purpose that will be apparent shortly.

The coil 61 is provided with reversible current through the supply lines 75, 76 from a potential source 77 and a double-pole, double-throw switch 78. The armature 62 can thus be positioned in the full line position or retracted to the dotted line position under control of the switch 78 by the operator at a convenient remote location. No operation of the pins 31, 32 can be performed without use of this switch 78.

Thus, to briefly review the operation, with air pressure being provided to the air hose 71 and the source of electric potential being on, the switch 78 is operated to cause a flow of current in the coils 61 so that the armature 62 moves to the position shown by full line outline in FIG. 3. Immediately, air pressure is provided to the upper portion of the cylinder 54 through the passageway 63 and the feed line 64 so that the piston is moved forward against the bias of the spring 55 and the stop pins 31, 32 are thereby positioned behind the rollers 24, 26 in jamming relationship. With the doors 20, 21 now closed they are thus immediately and simultaneously locked and secured in position. The doors now can only be opened by authorized persons changing the First, it should be noted that the solenoid valve 60 is provided with a safety feature that prevents opening of the stop pins 31, 32 should the air or electrical supplies be cut or opened. This is so since the check valve 70 prevents the flow of air from chamber 62a, wherein air pressure acting against face 62b of the armature 62 holds the same in the position shown. Likewise, failure of the electrical supply cannot effect the mode of the armature 62, once in position since the air pressure in chamber 62a is still held. Accordingly, once the lock of the present invention is secured, the doors 20, 21 cannot be opened by interruption of the actuating supplies, either accidently or by a person attempting unauthorized entry.

When the doors 20, 21 are ready to be opened by the operator, assuming a suitable source of air and electric supply is provided, the switch 78 is operated so as to switch the polarity of the current through the coil 61. This current provides a magnetic field that is capable of briefly overriding the air pressure within the chamber 62a. and immediately the stopper 66 opens the orifice 65 to relieve the chamber 62a and the upper portion of the cylinder 54 to atmospheric pressure. The piston and the cross rod assembly move so as to withdraw the lock pins 31, 32, thus allowing the doors to be immediately opened.

The entire linkage assembly and control means for the pins 31, 32 are housed in a protected position beneath the floor and behind the side sill S in a weatherproof and burglery-proof box B, as best shown in FIG. 4 (see also cut away view in FIG. 3). Protective flanges 80, 8] may be provided in front of the pins 31, 32 to prevent an attempt at tampering with the front edges of the stop pins 31, 32. The air pressure within the working chamber of the cylinder 54 is selected to be sufficiently high to prevent rearward pushing of the pins 31, 32 sufficient to clear the jamming relationship with the rollers 24, 26. It will be remembered that an interruption of the power supplies does not effect the positioning of the stop pins 31, 32 so that the unauthorized tripping of the lock 30 is effectively prevented.

In view of the foregoing, it is believed clear that an improved locking system controlled solely by remote control has been provided and which is effective to secure the car or the like from tampering by unauthorized persons. The pins 31, 32 are projected by fluid pressure actuation, across the tank 28 so as to engage the path of the rollers 24, 26 in a jamming relationship. The solenoid valve 60 provides effective control of the power cylinder 54 and prevents opening of the lock except by the operator actuating the switch 78 in the proper manner.

In this disclosure, there is shown and described only the preferred embodiment of the invention, but, as aforementioned, it is to be understood that the invention is capable of various changes or modifications within the scope of the inventive concept as expressed 6 by the accompanying claims.

I claim: l. A lock for a sliding door mounted on a structure with an opening comprising in combination a track ad- 5 jacent said opening for supporting the door, slide means on said door cooperating with said track for permitting sliding action, means for limiting the movement of said door transversely with respect to said track, stop means for projecting movement into the path of travel of said slide means on said door to prevent opening movement by jamming action as governed by said limiting means and remote control means for solely extending and retracting said stop means as desired independent of any movement of said structure, whereby unauthorized entry through said door is prevented under positive control of an operator by positive jamming action except by operation of said control means.

2. The lock of claim 1 wherein said slide means includes door support rollers and said stop means includes a pin projectable across said track into the path of one of said rollers.

3. The lock of claim 1 wherein said stop means includes at least two pins and a cross bar connecting the same for simultaneous movement by said control means.

4. The lock of claim 3 wherein said cross bar is supported on a pair of guides adjacent the end of said bar, said guides holding said bar captive for movement between an extended and retracted position of said stop means.

5. The lock of claim 4 wherein said control means includes a clevis member mounted on the middle of said bar and power means for moving said clevis in and out to actuate said pins.

6. The lock of claim 1 wherein said control means further includes an air-operated cylinder connected to said stop means and a source of pressurized air for said cylinder.

7. The lock of claim 6 wherein said control means further includes solenoid valve means for operating said cylinder and electrical power source and switch for said solenoid means.

8. The lock of claim 7 wherein said solenoid includes a valve armature, a passageway therethrough con nected to said air source for pressuring said cylinder and stopper means on said solenoid for releasing said pressure from an exhaust orifice allowing opening of said door.

9. The lock of claim 8 wherein said a check valve is provided in communication with said passageway to prevent retro flow from said cylinder, an operative face on said armature for maintaining said exhaust orifice closed by air pressure, whereby said stop means is maintained in blocking position upon loss of any power.

10. The lock of claim I wherein is provided an enclosed box for sealing said control means to prevent outside tampering. 

1. A lock for a sliding door mounted on a structure with an opening comprising in combination a track adjacent said opening for supporting the door, slide means on said door cooperating with said track for permitting sliding action, means for limiting the movement of said door transversely with respect to said track, stop means for projecting movement into the path of travel of said slide means on said door to prevent opening movement by jamming action as governed by said limiting means and remote control means for solely extending and retracting said stop means as desired independent of any movement of said structure, whereby unauthorized entry through said door is prevented under positive control of an operator by positive jamming action except by operation of said control means.
 2. The lock of claim 1 wherein said slide means includes door support rollers and said stop means includes a pin projectable across said track into the path of one of said rollers.
 3. The lock of claim 1 wherein said stop means includes at least two pins and a cross bar connecting the same for simultaneous movement by said control means.
 4. The lock of claim 3 wherein said cross bar is supported on a pair of guides adjacent the end of said bar, said guides holding said bar captive for movement between an extended and retracted position of said stop means.
 5. The lock of claim 4 wherein said control means includes a clevis member mounted on the middle of said bar and power means for moving said clevis in and out to actuate said pins.
 6. The lock of claim 1 wherein said control means further includes an air-operated cylinder connected to said stop means and a source of pressurized air for said cylinder.
 7. The lock of claim 6 wherein said control means further includes solenoid valve means for operating said cylinder and electrical power source and switch for said solenoid means.
 8. The lock of claim 7 wherein said solenoid includes a valve armature, a passageway therethrough connected to said air source for pressuring said cylinder and stopper means on said solenoid for releasing said pressure from an exhaust orifice allowing opening of said door.
 9. The lock of claim 8 wherein said a check valve is provided in communication with said passageway to prevent retro flow from said cylinder, an operative face on said armature for maintaining said exhaust orifice closed by air pressure, whereby said stop means is maintained in blocking position upon loss of any power.
 10. The lock of claim 1 wherein is provided an enclosed box for sealing said control means to prevent outside tampering. 